Miami now joins a groundswell of communities standing up and saying loudly that the rail project has the potential to transform Florida's transportation system for the better—but only if it includes a parallel rail-with-trail pathway for biking and walking.

Trail building has become a competitive sport. And there is much at stake. As America's communities continue to jostle for position in the annual League of American Bicyclists Bicycle Friendly State rankings, what they are really competing for is new residents, new businesses, a reputation for livability and to be at the forefront of smart transportation, health and recreation planning.

As the community of Hopkinsville in southeast Kentucky pursues its rail-trail ambitions, the New Era editorial board decided to respond to concerns about crime and safety by going to straight to an expert. This week the paper conducted and published a discussion on trails, crime and safety with Hopkinsville Chief of Police Guy Howie, who had experience with trails relationship to crime during his time with the police department in Ocala, Fla.

Earlier today the Budget Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives hosted a hearing on the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund. As generally acknowledged, current funding sources for the Trust Fund (notably gasoline and diesel taxes) are not sufficient to maintain a reliable transportation system. You can read all the testimony from the hearing at the House website here.

The next big health care breakthrough - which could cut rates of heart disease, diabetes, colon cancer, and Alzheimer's by at least 40 percent and save Americans $100 billion a year - comes from a place you'd least expect. On your block. At the park. Everywhere.

Fifteen years after the completion of the first stage of the Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville (FJ&G) Rail-Trail in Fulton County, officials are working to build the rest of what will be a 22-mile pathway.

There was terrific news for the people and businesses of Cincinnati last week with city manager Milton Dohoney Jr. unveiling a proposal to fund a number of innovative and much-needed development projects in the city by raising downtown car parking rates, currently among the lowest in the country.

With Sec. LaHood announcing last week he would step down from the role of the nation's top transportation official he has filled since 2009, the urgency is building for supporters of trails and active transportation to find a worthy replacement.

The Middlesex Greenway, which runs between Woodbridge, Metuchen and Edison in north-central New Jersey, now forms an important link in the developing East Coast Greenway, an ambitious project to connect nearly 3,000 miles of trails between Canada and Key West, Fla.